Revenge of the Fallen
by DDR DAV3
Summary: With the war finally over, Aang and the Gaang can finally look forward to a brighter future...but someone is on a quest to make sure that never happens. [Kataang] R&R!


Hey there again fellow Avatar fans! DDR DAV3 here, taking a break from the hot DDR and IIDX action to bring you, you guessed it, more fanfiction!!!

(Crickets chirp)

……..

Hmmm…I really need to make more exciting intros…Oh sweet, maybe I can use lasers and strobe lights next time!!! (grabs notebook and scribbles)

Wow, I can hardly believe how much positive feedback I received with my first fic. So many nice reviewers, so many generous readers; it really does my heart glad and makes me want to write even more! Anyhoo, this will be a multi-chapter adventure fic, (with a heaping helping of Kataang goodness of course:) ) so I hope you enjoy the ride! Onward to the fic!!!

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**Disclaimer: **As soon as I AAA Fascination MaxX on Heavy mode with shuffle & stealth on, I will own Avatar; but I haven't…so I don't……

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The summer air was crisp as early evening descended over the landscape of the Fire Nation, the last rays of sunlight slowly disappearing over the horizon draping the cloudless sky in a diamond embroidered curtain of flowing lavender hues. The full moon radiated with a valiant glow, its soft white light caressing the ground, casting its mysterious shadows on all corners of the land.

The backdrop was perfect and the stage was set. Whistles could be heard all around as fireworks were lit, sending riveting streaks of red-orange light up from the ground into the dark abyss of the night sky; suddenly, the fireworks all exploded at the same time in a brilliant supernova of spectacular colors and lights, elating a cheer from the many onlookers. As the first wave of bursts began to dim, several more streaked up right on cue, coloring the sky with even more exploding rainbows.

The crowd roared with jubilation; the celebration of the fall of Fire Lord Ozai had begun.

Nearly every resident in the capital city, as well as many others from all around the world, were gathered together in the front courtyard of the royal palace of the, now late, Fire Lord. The entire palace, and much of the surrounding area, was decorated stunningly. Paper lanterns hung from strings jutting out from the many open windows in the former Fire Lord's home, scattering off in every direction as far as the eye could see; the glow of the lanterns covering the entire courtyard in a warm blanket of orange. Several tables were set up together, each one dressed in beautiful tablecloths made of a delicate, silky material. Patterns of flames and golden dragons were exquisitely woven into the fabric in a delicate wavy pattern; the ripples and dips that were created as they hung over the sides of each table gave each one of them the faint illusion of a flowing sea of exotic fire.

The head table was located at the foot of the stairs leading up to the threshold of the palace. A finely crafted dragon statue made of sparkling gold and encrusted with rubies sat squarely in the middle of it, greatly complementing the wide array of decorations with its noble ambiance.

Close behind the glimmering dragon stood a young boy of 12 years, tattoos of blue arrows covering his head and arms, staff in hand, and a knowing smile on his face.

His name was Aang, the Avatar, and this celebration was for him.

As the young airbender surveyed the ensuing festivities, he felt a surge of joy and satisfaction swell in his chest; it was over, it was finally over. He had avenged his people of their cruel extinction due to his unintentional one hundred year abdication of his Avatar duties, he had reunited the families of his traveling companions that had been separated after the eclipse, and he had saved the world from utter damnation from the Fire Nation's former tyranny.

It was truly amazing; just nearly 48 hours ago it was the same war-torn nation it had been for the past century in the iron-fisted grasp of the decedents of Fire Lord Sozin's royal family; it was nothing more than a land of sadness and people living in the shadows of their conformity, never being able to truly express themselves. It was such a wonderful turn of emotions that had descended on the people; they were finally happy and free, finally able to find a reason to celebrate after the decades and decades of pain and fear, and finally being able to set their hopeful eyes on a brighter future completely devoid of the darkness the nation had become so accustomed to.

"It's really something, isn't it Aang?" came a voice from behind him.

Aang snapped back to the present reality and quickly turned around to face who was talking to him, feeling the heat slowly rise up to his face and his pulse quickening as he discovered just who it was.

It was Katara; his best friend, his constant companion, and the sole captor of the young Avatar's heart. She stood grinning broadly at him, her hands loosely behind her back and looking more beautiful than anything Aang could ever think of.

Aang smiled warmly at her "Yes," he said. "It really is."

Katara stepped forward and captured him in a warm embrace; Aang smiled even wider into her shoulder as he looped his arms around her waist as he returned her kind gesture, letting the rest of the world slip away for those few moments. After everything that had taken place 2 days earlier, he felt elated that he still had the opportunity to have the beautiful waterbender here with him; several times during the final assault on Fire Lord Ozai, the horrible image flashed constantly in his mind of losing his most treasured friend as she stood by his side during the entirety of the battles that took place that day.

Aang pushed all those thoughts out of his head as they broke off their brief embrace and stared into her sparkling ocean blue eyes; she was here with him, and that's all that mattered.

Katara gave him a little wave as she walked off to a nearby group of people to mingle. Aang stared longingly after her; she was still here, he still had a chance.

Aang had not yet been able to summon up the courage to tell his true feelings to the girl he cared for so dearly. There were several times leading up to the final invasion he had planned to do just that, but each time he would either get interrupted and sidetracked, or he would completely lose his nerve when he looked into her gorgeous azure orbs, so full of kindness and caring, and she gave him that beautiful, heart-melting smile. He truly could not figure out why the thought of revealing his love to her made his stomach do back flips; he had enough courage to face the overwhelming destiny that was laid out in front of his young eyes, to face and conquer his foes with the bravery and virtue of a fearless knight, and yet the task of finally expressing his overwhelming adoration of her seemed, in his mind, to be as impossible as calming down a furious fully-grown saber-toothed moose-lion.

Aang shook his head and cleared his thoughts; no matter how hard it seemed, no matter how nerve-wracking the actual task would most likely be, he knew it had to be done. Aang took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the air of the warm summer evening, and exhaled slowly, bringing a small sense of peace to the Avatar's young mind.

'I have to do it,' Aang thought firmly to himself. 'And I have to do it soon.'

Aang turned back around to take his seat at the table, but just as he pulled the chair out, he felt a strong arm grab his shoulder roughly and spin him around. Aang barely had time to react when he felt the person capture him in a tight headlock. He struggled as best he could for a few seconds but found he couldn't escape the strong grip on his neck. He gave one last tug of protest and felt the noose on him grow even tighter. The person chuckled darkly and Aang knew he was beat; he shut his eyes tightly, grimly waiting for the end…

"Nooggieeeeeeee!!!!!!!" Sokka screamed in Aang's ear as he ground his fist into his bald head. "What's the all-powerful Avatar gonna' do now huh?!" He laughed manically and continued his merciless attack on Aang's scalp.

Aang desperately flailed his arms in a futile attempt to break free of Sokka's hold on him.

"C'mon Sokka-OW!-knock it-OW!-knock it off!!!-OW!" Aang yelled in exasperation.

Sokka let out an evil laugh "Say uncle…SAY UNCLE!!!" Sokka screamed as he rubbed his fist even harder. "Say it or I won't-OOOOFFF!!!"

Sokka grunted loudly and his fist screeched to a halt; Aang saw his chance and freed himself from Sokka's headlock, rubbing his poor scalp which now had a very large patch of red on it. Sokka, who was now holding his torso due to having the wind knocked out of him from a bolder that slammed full speed into him, fell back on his rear end with a loud 'THUD'.

"And maybe someone will come by to stop you from making us look like idiots!" Aang's savior yelled.

"Toph!" Sokka said angrily rubbing his abdomen. "You can't just chuck rocks at people; you're going to hurt someone!"

Toph in her standard earthbending stance, with knees bent and arms cautiously defending her middle, let her lips curl slowly into a small satisfied smile.

"I can when that person is acting like an obnoxious weasel-fly!" Toph retorted. "And even more so when that weasel-fly is you!"

Sokka uttered a low growl as he picked himself up off the ground, dusting off his shirt where the bolder had hit him.

"Still, there are better ways to get my attention," Sokka said in an annoyed tone. "If that boulder had moved a couple inches lower we could've had a serious problem!"

Toph just smirked triumphantly, "I guess you should think about that next time shouldn't you Rubber Belly?" She gave a little chuckle and walked off. Sokka shot daggers with his eyes at the back of her head, but soon followed after her, a dejected look on his face and his shoulders slumping.

Aang smiled after his 2 friends; even during their little arguments, each one passing insults to the other, he could still see that deep down, they truly cared about each other. This was never more evident then during the events that took place during the Gaang's final invasion. They were constantly fighting alongside each other, both protecting the other from the constant barrage of firebending and weapons being flung and hurled at them in attempts to further hinder their advancements on the royal palace. Aang recalled an especially touching moment during the battle when a Fire Nation solder's sword made painful contact on Toph's right arm. All Aang could see from the area where he was fighting was the solder's muscular arm, holding his sword high in the air above Toph; the next thing he heard was Toph emitting a loud, bloodcurdling scream. Aang tried to run to where she was, but was cut off by 3 more palace guards blocking the path. Aang tried his best to fight them off quickly, but 5 minutes went by before that area of the palace entrance was completely secured. Aang ran as fast as his airbending aided feet could go to reach Toph before her wounds became too serious, but stopped abruptly when he saw that Sokka had beat him there. He felt his heart warm as he saw Sokka tenderly caring to Toph, wrapping bandages around her wound and whispering gentle words of comfort in attempts to further soothe her. Aang could see small tears escaping his earthbending master's eyes as Sokka treated her, but could also make out a faint blush across her pale cheeks as she held on tightly to Sokka's sleeve, looking as though she feared he would leave her if she did not hold on tight enough. Even though the battle was far from over and there was still much to accomplish in an extremely short amount of time, he paused for just that brief moment and let himself smile warmly at them; knowing that, at least for that day, they would always have each other to count on.

Aang snapped back to reality as the blaring sounds of Tsungi horns filled the air, signaling for everyone to take their seats. The multiple crowds all dispersed and divided as everyone took their places at the long, decorated tables. Aang sat down in his spot at the head table along with Katara and Sokka, both sitting on either side of him, with Toph sitting next to Sokka. Aang turned his head in Katara's direction, smiling shyly at her. Aang caught her eye and she flashed him a glowing smile, making Aang cheeks light up with a reddish hue. Everyone continued chatting merrily as one last Tsungi horn blast sounded, quickly silencing everyone.

Aang looked out to the stage that was set up at the end of all of the long tables; Zuko sat near the podium that was set up in the center, a valiant grin on his face. Next to him on a brilliantly decorated throne sat Iroh; who was now, not only Zuko's uncle, but had been crowned the new Fire Lord as well. Iroh was sitting up nobly with a wise and knowing smile on his face. Aang remembered how humble he looked at his commencement ceremony the day before when they placed the crown on his head, no doubt ready to assume the many duties that would be required to repair the hurt done by Ozai. But what really caught Aang's eye, was how proudly he had looked at Zuko when they named him as the next in line; he saw Iroh eyes mist as Zuko kneeled in front of his uncle awaiting him to place his hand on his right shoulder, signifying that he accepted him as the next Fire Lord after his passing. Iroh did just that; and as Zuko lifted his head, retuning his eyes to his uncle, Aang didn't know if he had ever seen anyone smile as wide as Zuko did then.

The crowd became silent as former War Minister Ching made his way up to the podium. All eyes were on him as he cleared his throat and began,

"Fire Nation brothers, as well as our newly rekindled friends from around the world," he began in a strong voice. "Today we celebrate the dawn of a new era, a new Fire Nation, and a completely new world!"

The crowd roared enthusiastically. Aang turned his head as he saw Hakoda, as well as many other members of both the Southern and Northern Water Tribes cheer and whoop heartily.

The cheers of the crowd slowly died down as Ching continued,

"Two days ago, the ruthless tyranny of Fire Lord Ozai ended." Ching exclaimed. "Along with him, the tyrannical Princess Azula met her fate as well; bringing in a new royal line and a brighter future for our nation: Fire Lord Iroh, and Prince Zuko!"

As the crowd gave another loud uproar, Aang shivered slightly to himself as his mind flashed back briefly to his battle with Azula. It was just him and the Princess in one of the lower-back chambers of the fire palace. The battle between them raged on for nearly 30 minutes; with both Aang and Azula sustaining many injuries. Due to Azula's extremely powerful lightning fire-bursts, in conjunction with Aang's multiple elemental attacks, the chamber itself had sustained a significant amount of damage as well; Just as Azula was about to make a charging blow at Aang, several of the support beams collapsed at the same time. Aang could see and feel the chamber falling apart and made a break for the exit. Azula attempted to follow, but a large chunk of metal fell from the roof directly onto her leg, pinning it to the floor and rendering her completely immobile. The last thing Aang saw as he dashed out of the chamber to safety was Azula shooting one last chilling glare of pure hatred at him as the entire chamber came down in an avalanche of flames and metal.

Aang blinked quickly, erasing the unpleasant mental image of Azula's cold, demonic eyes from his thoughts. He tried to pay attention to Ching's speech, but his previous flashback brought back another concern that had been ebbing at his mind.

Even though the battle had already been won and the Fire Nation was finally free, one thing still troubled Aang's thoughts; Ozai had died by his own hands, he actually saw his dead body; but Azula was a different story. Aang didn't stay long enough to actually see her corpse for himself, in fact, no one had. When the rubble from the chamber had been cleared, Aang expected to see a body come out at one point with the palace workers who were clearing it up, but none was ever found; everyone just assumed her body must have burned up in the intense heat and, since there was no corpse to disprove this theory, everyone just accepted it as the truth. Aang knew he shouldn't be worried, the chances of her surviving were zero to none; he knew he shouldn't let it concern him, but still…

Aang forced himself to stop thinking about it. It was over; he had accomplished his mission as the Avatar and the Fire Nation was now in good hands. He pushed his worried thoughts to the back of his mind as Ching finished his speech.

"That being said," Ching concluded. "We owe all of our thanks to one person, the same person who we thought to be extinct for the last 100 years who returned to save us and the whole world from the shadow of Sozin's war: Avatar Aang, savior of the world!"

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause. Hawks were released, each carrying a container of confetti on their backs, and the whole area was showered in a stunning rain of a rainbow of colors. More fireworks were set off, and the crowd grew louder still as they all exploded simultaneously. As Aang looked on in awe, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder; he turned his head to see Katara beaming down at him, with more adoration in her eyes than he could ever remember seeing.

"Way to go Aang," she said sweetly. "I'm so proud of you." Katara then bent down and placed a chaste kiss on Aang's cheek, causing him to blush furiously. He looked into Katara's ocean blue orbs, and she stared back at his mysterious grey ones. They both smiled warmly at each other, and Aang knew at that point, everything would be all right. Even though he did not have all the answers to explain some of the mysteries that were still troubling him, he knew, as long as he could gaze on Katara's shining face, he didn't need them; in his mind, everything was perfect, and that was enough for him.

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A lone man walked down a dark hallway. He wore a hooded cloak so none of his features were readily visible by normal eyesight. As he approached the end of the hallway, he happened upon a large metal door. He stood there for a few seconds, almost as if admiring it, and gave one swift knock.

"Enter." A voice said.

The hooded man pushed open the door and passed the archway into the room; there was almost no light as the man squinted to adjust to the limited visibility.

"I trust our plan is running smoothly?" The voice said in a more stating tone than a questioning one.

"Yes," the hooded man said simply. "No one is any the wiser."

A low chuckle resounded throughout the room. "So," she said in an amused tone. "I am to assume that no one suspects, am I right?"

The hooded figure paused for a second, his lips curving up into an evil smirk. "Yes your highness," he replied. "I am certain no one knows you are alive."

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**A/N:** DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic! Please review if you get the chance, any and all comments and critiques are more than welcome and greatly appreciated!

I will try to update ASAP, it shouldn't be a problem as I am almost done with school. So, until next time:

Keep on rockin'!


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